


What's for dinner?

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Series: Saphael Winter Tales [24]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: (I don't know how to tag this story but I swear it'll be okay in the end and make sense), Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas Dinner, Comfort/Angst, Declarations Of Love, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Human Raphael, Jewish Character, M/M, Major Character Death (kind of?), Merman Raphael, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-03 10:09:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8708428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: His mother greeted him with a gentle smile and a warm hug, as did his sister, and the mood seemed relaxed and happy which caused some of the tension to bleed from Simon's shoulders, making his smile less forced and more genuine."Where is Rapha?""In the kitchen and food will be ready in a bit so go wash your hands and sit down," Elaine replied with a shooing motion and despite the urge to go greet his lover immediately, Simon decided to follow his mother's order and enjoy the fact that she apparently accepted Raphael enough to have him help out in the kitchen. His boyfriend had probably presented himself with his most charming attitude and Simon didn't even know why he had doubted that his family would instantly love Raphael.





	

**Author's Note:**

> All of the stories were supposed to be fluffy and then this happened. Please excuse my brain for the shit it comes up with *laughs*

Simon felt horribly nervous when he entered his childhood home for their Christmas dinner and he briefly wondered why they suddenly had such a thing as a Christmas dinner because his family was Jewish and they were supposed to celebrate Hanukkah in a few days but he shrugged it off because there were slightly more important matters this evening. Because today was the evening his mother and sister would finally meet Raphael, the young man he had been dating for about half a year by now.

The problematic and nerve-wracking thing about it was, that his boyfriend wasn't exactly human. Well, he looked human, at least from his head to his waist but from there on his skin turned into bluish looking black scales and instead of having feet, he was equipped with a pretty impressive tail fin. Yes, Simon's boyfriend was a merman and he was only able to turn into a completely human form - with legs instead of his fin - for a limited amount of time but his skin would still be scattered with scales from his waist down.

Simon had been supposed to meet up with his lover in front of the house but he was late from work, he had told his boyfriend to head inside without him and now he just dreaded whatever scenario was awaiting him because even though Raphael could breathe normally with lungs, he also had gills and therefore his family would immediately know that his lover was anything but completely human. On one hand, his mother had always been supportive but, on the other hand, she could also be quite old-fashioned and would probably not approve of their unusual relationship.

His mother greeted him with a gentle smile and a warm hug, as did his sister, and the mood seemed relaxed and happy which caused some of the tension to bleed from Simon's shoulders, making his smile less forced and more genuine.

"Where is Rapha?"

"In the kitchen and food will be ready in a bit so go wash your hands and sit down," Elaine replied with a shooing motion and despite the urge to go greet his lover immediately, Simon decided to follow his mother's order and enjoy the fact that she apparently accepted Raphael enough to have him help out in the kitchen. His boyfriend had probably presented himself with his most charming attitude and Simon didn't even know why he had doubted that his family would instantly love Raphael.

Simon left the bathroom again after washing his hands and heading to the table he saw the plates with the food were already placed on it, each plate covered with a metal cloche and he frowned a little at this fact because he hadn't even known they owned such things - he only ever saw cloches in cartoons or movies with fancy restaurants.

He sat down and glanced at his sister, sitting opposite to him at the table and only now did Simon notice that the table was only laid for three people instead of four. When he opened his mouth to ask about it and most importantly ask why Raphael still hadn't joined them, his mother raised the cloche that covered Rebecca's plate and Simon's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the bluish black meat that was covered with scales. He gasped in shock, standing up swiftly enough to knock his chair over but he didn't even hear it clatter to the ground because his whole focus had narrowed in on the fact that his sister had a piece of his boyfriend served with something that looked like algae and a reddish-brown sauce that looked awfully similar to blood.

Simon felt his stomach twist and turn, bile rising in his throat and his eyes started to sting with unshed tears because _this couldn't be happening_. Elaine and Rebecca looked at him, puzzled, and his mother even told him to sit down again because she had put a lot of work in their dinner and that it had taken quite a lot of time to _get the_ fish _just right_. Elaine lifted the cloche that covered Simon's plate and he only saw part of a neck - a neck that he had kissed only this morning when he said his goodbyes to Raphael prior to leaving for work - before he turned around, unable to watch this horrible scenario any longer.

* * *

Simon jerked awake almost violently with a strangled sob and tried to slap away the hands that applied gentle pressure against his shoulders, keeping him from thrashing around like he wanted to. His breathing was erratic, hair sticking to his forehead with cold sweat and eyes wide in terror.

"Hey, hey. It was just a nightmare, baby, calm down. You're home and safe, everything is fine," a familiar voice reached his ears and the realisation that it was Raphael - he was by his side and alive - tore another sob from his throat. He was immediately pulled into a sitting position and Raphael's strong arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly and stroking his back in an attempt to calm him down.

"Ssshhh, it's alright, _corazón_. I got you. I got you," Raphael repeated over and over again, adding a few soothing words in Spanish and more endearing terms, pressing soft kisses to Simon's hair, his temple, his forehead and his wet cheeks.

It took almost half an hour for Simon to calm down again and another twenty minutes until he was able to talk about his dream, with a small and shaky voice. If his lover hadn't been this terrified, pale and wide-eyed with fear, Raphael might have laughed at the ridiculous thought of him being a merman and Simon's family cooking him for dinner but there was absolutely nothing amusing in seeing his boyfriend beyond terrified.

"I knew you were worried that the Hanukkah dinner might fail or that your mum might not accept me or our relationship but you didn't tell me it was bad enough to haunt you in your dreams. If you want, I can call your mum first thing in the morning and tell her we can't make it for dinner," Raphael offered, worry still plain to see in his dark eyes and his slight frown. Simon sniffled, still unable to shake off the terror of this ridiculous but still traumatising nightmare, and then he finally nodded.

"That might be better. I'm sorry," he whispered with a small and broken voice, eyes welling up with tears again. Raphael was quick to tighten the hug again and peppered his lover's face with some more kisses.

"Nothing to be sorry about, _querido_. We can just stay in, cuddle in bed or on the couch and order take-out, maybe watch one of your favourite movies, hm?" Raphael offered softly and sank back onto the bed in a lying position, pulling Simon on top of him and wrapping the blanket tighter around both of them. Simon pressed his still wet face against his lover's throat and gave the tiniest nod in reply while breathing in the familiar, soothing scent of his boyfriend.

" _Te amo con todo mi alma_ ," Simon mumbled against the warm skin, pressing his lips against it as if he could embed the words in the other's skin, for Raphael to always carry them with him.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Corazón_ \- (My) heart  
>  _Querido_ \- Darling  
>  _Te amo con todo mi alma_ \- I love you with all of my soul
> 
> * * *
> 
> Saying _Happy Holidays_ seems kind of inappropriate after this...but I hope you'll have much more cheerful and less _yikes_ holidays than Simon ♥


End file.
